Givaudan to Acquire Indena’s Cosmetics Business
MILAN — Swiss fragrance and flavors supplier Givaudan said Tuesday it has reached an agreement to acquire the cosmetics business of Italian company Indena. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Swiss firm said in a statement it plans to fund the transaction from existing resources.
Headquartered in Milan, Indena is specialized in the identification, development and production of highquality active ingredients derived from plants, to be used in the pharmaceutical, health food and personal-care industries. Backed up by almost a century of botanical experience, the company counts four manufacturing locations employing around 800 people, sales activities in more than 80 countries and holds more than 100 primary patents.
Expected to close in the first quarter of next year, the transaction consolidates Givaudan’s 2020 strategy to expand the capabilities of its Active Beauty business, which is part of the company’s fragrance division and offers an extensive portfolio of innovative active cosmetic ingredients delivering a range of benefits such as antiaging, self-tanning, soothing, hydrating and cooling properties, among others.
According to Maurizio Volpi, president of Givaudan’s fragrance division, this operation will be strategic for the company as Indena has “an excellent reputation in the market, thanks to the quality of their ingredients, their strong focus on innovation as well as the mastering of their supply chain. It offers Active Beauty an expanded portfolio of plant-based ingredients that nicely complement our current portfolio. We are very confident that the acquisition will further enhance our position as a leading player in the active cosmetic ingredients industry.”
“[Indena’s] four strategic pillars — botanical expertise, research, scale up, quality safety and efficacy — fit perfectly with Givaudan Active Beauty’s future ambitions as well as with our sustainability approach ‘A Sense of Tomorrow,’” echoed Laurent Bourdeau, head of Givaudan’s Active Beauty business.
As part of the deal, the two companies will also sign a long-term partnership agreement under which Indena will manufacture ingredients for Givaudan and provide innovation capabilities and other supporting services.
Indena’s managing director Daniele Giavini said the operation will enable his company to “focus on its core markets of pharmaceuticals and health food, whilst continuing to support the cosmetic ingredients business which has been a valuable part of our portfolio.”
Giavini lauded Givaudan’s long history, tradition in innovation and strong commercial presence, additionally underscoring similarities in “Givaudan’s culture and its knowledge of natural cosmetic ingredients, as well as the use of the latest sustainable biotechnologies to create highperforming functional products” with Indena’s own philosophy and approach to business.
Givaudan said Indena’s cosmetic ingredients business would have represented about 8 million euros of incremental sales to its results in 2018 on a pro-forma basis. Last year, Givaudan registered sales of 5.5 billion Swiss francs, or $5.5 billion.
Earlier this year, Givaudan completed another similar deal acquiring the cosmetics business of AMSilk, a
German industrial supplier of vegan silk biopolymers.
The Italian company is specialized in the identification, development and production of high-quality active ingredients derived from plants.